Change your Thoughts, Change your Life
It took me years, decades really, to realize and understand that much of my being stuck, anxiety, and lack of satisfaction (mostly with myself), was due to my thinking and the way I understood and processed my thoughts.
After years of therapy, coaching, hypnosis and lots more, I finally understood, at a deeper level, that in order to change my life, I had to change my often-negative thought patterns into lighter, brighter and more helpful ones. This was not an overnight AHA moment but rather years of feeling stuck, sad, struggling and frustrated. In my situation, there was trauma involved (intergenerational trauma) but whether you have a history of trauma or not, it’s important to become aware of and really understand, at a deeper level, that when your belief and thought patterns in your mind change, so does most everything else.
You may have heard the saying, ‘Healer, heal thyself’. Not only as a dentist, but later on as a LifeCoachNYC, Mindset Coach & Hypnotherapist, I knew it was time to do the ‘inner work.’ Through coaching and therapy and much studying, reading and learning, I understood that it was not really my conscious mind that was leading my life, but my unconscious mind.
From 0-7 years, we absorb everything around us, from our caretakers, school, other institutions, our community, culture. This gets stored in our unconscious mind and stays put there, without our knowing it. Much of our work is to extract these underlying beliefs and thoughts from the unconscious and bring it out into the open (conscious mind and through the body). This may seem simple but is no easy feat. It can take much work, and the ups and downs of feeling our true, underlying emotions, traumas, etc.
There is GOOD NEWS!
You CAN change your thoughts to change your mind, which will, consequently, change your behaviors, actions and thus, your life.
Happily, we’ve learned in the last few years, that you can change your mind, literally and figuratively.
1)Literally, by developing new neural pathways and thus, new thought patterns. This is done through NEUROPLASTICITY, also known as neural plasticity or brain plasticity, which is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. This is fabulous news because it means that we’re not necessarily stuck with our past……thoughts, behaviors, actions. You can change; your brain and mind can change. But you gotta do the work!
2)Make sure that you’re developing a GROWTH MINDSET as opposed to a FIXED MINDSET.
A Growth mindset is the belief that a trait (like intelligence or resilience) is malleable and can be developed through hard work, good strategies, and the ability to receive and integrate thoughtful feedback.
A Fixed mindset means that you believe that your attributes and abilities are inherently fixed and unchanging. If you have this Fixed mindset, you’re setting yourself up for a life of limitations, negativity and a give-up attitude. You’re believing that you’re basically ‘stuck’ the way you are now.
The truth is that you CAN change your thoughts, your mind and your ways.
3)Which takes me to this third point, a very important one, which many of us may be aware of (consciously) but don’t really practice in our daily lives.
DON’T BELIEVE YOUR THOUGHTS! You read that right. You have approximately 70,000 thoughts per day; incredible, right? Not all your thoughts are facts. You must OBSERVE then, QUESTION, then CHALLENGE your thoughts to find freedom in the truth. There are ways to do this: tools, exercises, etc. (Contact me @www.gigiarnaud.com or at the social media links below for more info.) Finally, we choose to take ACTION and change the story (our thoughts).
Each of us has ‘automatic, default’ thoughts and these determine how we feel about ourselves, others and our lives. These thoughts are often conditioned on our past experiences and the belief system we’ve built to interpret our world.
The Negativity Bias in our brain tends to go to the worst-case scenario (this bias is still with us, from primitive times, for safety and survival).
Remember: just because you think it, doesn’t mean it’s true. Thoughts aren’t always facts.
So, learn how to OBJECTIVELY OBSERVE, then QUESTION your thoughts! Then, you can start changing them!
It’s important to understand that anxiety, a history of trauma (of any kind) and some other situations, can make this belief that you CAN change your thought patterns and learn to work with your triggers, harder to ‘believe’ but you can do it! I can tell you this from personal experience and from my work as a Life & Mindset Coach & Hypnotherapist. If you’re willing to do the work, to change your underlying beliefs and thought patterns, which may take time and lots and lots of repetition and practice, you will change your mindset, to growth. You’ll observe and question your thoughts and you’ll take repetitive action to change them! This is the journey of a lifetime! There is nothing else that changes your life, mindset and attitude more than changing those limiting, negative, and unhelpful beliefs and thoughts to those that allow you to become who you really are and to show your unique skills, gifts, talents and qualities, to yourself and to the world.
There’s a Buddhist saying, “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”
When we believe the stories we tell ourselves, we add a layer of unnecessary suffering to our minds, bodies and nervous systems. Changing the stories we tell ourselves takes practice, awareness and a desire to be free from the suffering that our thoughts can cause. But you can do it.
OBSERVE, QUESTION, CHALLENGE your thoughts, then, take ACTION to change them!
You may want the help of a Mindset Coach, Hypnotherapist, Therapist or other professional until you’re able to accomplish this on your own.
With smiles and love,
Dr Gigi
PS: Be in touch with me @www.gigiarnaud.com or message me at Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn @drgigiarnaud, to learn more about HOW to do this amazing work and get your thoughts from negative, unhelpful and stuck, to positive, helpful and in alignment with the real you and all of your fabulous qualities. It’s a ‘rollercoaster ride,’ with its ups and downs; it’s also the most important and most life-changing journey of your life!
Change your Thoughts, Change your Mind, Change your World